Day 36. Sarria (written)

We had two options leaving Triacastela today: the longer 25 km route via a Benedictine monastery at Sarros, or the shorter, 18.2 km , hillier, and more scenic route via San Xil. We chose the shorter, more scenic option. Sarria is the place where there will be an influx of new pilgrims just starting their way to Santiago. Today’s route had more of what we’ve seen the past three days, splendid views and beautiful, shaded, woodland paths. It appears the vast majority of pilgrims chose the same route we did.
We chose to join Doug and Jean again today since this may be the last day we’re together. They have a planned rest day in Sarria tomorrow, but we’ll be moving on. Howe, we do hope to connect with them in Santiago. We’ve developed a great friendship with them.
Another group we connected with today were Leo, Declan, and Barry three retired policemen from north of Dublin , near Northern Ireland border. When Cathy mentioned to them that she was of Flanagan ancestry, Leo responded, “Here again, gone again , back again, Flanagan.” Barry then chipped in, “We’re a little mad, but we’re not bad.” We had great laughs with them and enjoyed their company. They were all policemen together and all retired for five years. Since then, when they were able to, they’ve been doing the Camino in 100-200 km segments. This time, they were going as far as Sarria, then taking a bus to Santiago, before returning home. Next year they hope to fly back to Sarria in order to finish the final segment.
Once again, we’ve been fortunate with weather. Sunny and warm until 3:00 when we had a downpour, but we were in our hotel by then. We have made plans to go out for a 7:00 pm dinner with a group of friends. Czytaj więcej